A side of OBX you may not have seen

Good article on Fredericksburg.com about alternative beaches – good for families with small kids, or when storm-driven waves mess up the ocean: the “baby beaches” of the sounds.

And though [Hurricane Bill and Tropical Storm Danny] never swung close enough to the shore to seriously disrupt the weather, both storms churned up waves and currents fierce enough to make us think twice about letting our kids swim in the ocean.

So the folks at the boat rental shop suggested we test the waters of Roanoke Sound, the narrow body of water west of Nags Head.

Read “Here’s a side of OBX you may not have seen” at Fredericksburg.com »

Talk like a pirate tomorrow

Th’ Pirate Guys ‘n assorted wenches are gettin’ ready fer Sept. 19th ‘n an epic International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Th’ lads will be partyin’ at opposite sides o’ th’ globe this year – Cap’n Slappy in Fairbanks, Alaska, ‘n Ol’ Chumbucket hangin’ out wit’ Mad Sally ‘n all th’ wee Chumbuckets in St. Croix – read about thar gigs here.

Pirate natter courtesy of the Online Pirate Translator – all good pirates will be usin’ it fer thar Sept. 19 correspondence.

National Geographic Traveler on the Lighthouse Coast of North Carolina

One of the travel magazine’s “Drives of a Lifetime” is the 114 miles from Corolla to Ocracoke Village:

Stand on the metal walkway that encircles the lantern room of the Cape Hatteras Light, some 165 feet above ground, and you’ll sense that this towering sentry, which has been saving lives since 1870, is still vital to today’s passing mariners. Looking east, you watch the relentless swells of the Atlantic Ocean paw away at the beach, continuously redrawing the contours of this coast.

Continue reading “Lighthouse Coast, North Carolina” at National Geographic Traveler »

Rare WWII-era Navy shipwreck found off N.C. coast

Maritime archaeologists tracking the victims of Nazi U-boats during World War II have explored a Navy patrol boat that has been untouched since it sank off the Outer Banks in 1942.

The converted trawler YP-389 was found about 18 miles off Hatteras Inlet last month by an expedition led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration studying shipwrecks left from the WWII battle for control of East Coast shipping lanes, maritime archaeologist Joe Hoyt said.

Read the rest of the story in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle »

Road trip! Outer Banks is Coastal Living’s No. 2

The magazine names its choices for the Top 10 best road trips in North America. We’re number two!

Why we love it: Map aficionados can’t help but be drawn to this arch of islands curving out from North Carolina’s coast like a spinnaker taking wind. Small towns dot the islands’ landscapes of dunes and long, sweeping beaches. (Nights in Rodanthe was filmed here.) Create a circuit by taking U.S. highways 17, 158, and 64. Back on the mainland, weave through marshlands and historic towns like Edenton.

And what better time to take a nice drive than the fall?

Bloomberg News: Labor Day Finds Americans Staying Close to Home

On North Carolina’s Outer Banks, two of the most expensive rooms in the Cape Hatteras Bed and Breakfast Inn hadn’t been booked for the night of Sept. 4, Catherine Moir, the innkeeper, said that afternoon. A night’s stay ranges from $139 to $159.

Some guests at the nine-room inn with a view of the cape’s black-and-white striped lighthouse stayed three or four days this summer instead of a week, Moir said. Even on vacation, they’re talking about money woes.

“People are worried about their finances and the future of their jobs,” Moir said. “I hear them talking about it at the breakfast table.”

Luckily for some, the Outer Banks is home.

Read the rest of this article at Bloomberg News »

So that’s what they do when they catch them

A Hope Mills dog bit – and flattened – all four of a deputy’s tires when the deputy responded to a complaint about another dog.

Dogs of a feather, eh?

‘Cinderella’ auditions this week

The Theatre of Dare will be holding auditions for Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical “Cinderella” on Tuesday 9/1 (that’s tomorrow!) and Wednesday 9/2 at the Barrier Island Fitness Center, Milepost 1, behind Kitty Hawk Wal-mart. There’s an afternoon session from 3:30-4:45 p.m. designed for children and youth, and an evening session from 7:00-8:30 p.m. for older youth and adults. Auditions will consist of a cold read from the script, plus some fun group singing and dancing.

More information about the auditions at TheatreOfDare.org »

‘Play the Game’ at Manteo’s Pioneer Theatre

Outer Banks local Andy Griffith is starring in an independent romantic comedy called “Play The Game,” which opens this Friday August 28th at the Pioneer Theatre in Manteo for a limited engagement.

The film was made specifically for boomers and seniors, but appeals to audiences of all ages. It is about a young “ladies’ man” who teaches his dating tricks to his lonely, widowed grandfather. But when Grandpa Joe becomes the Don Juan of the nursing home, he has a lesson for his grandson.

Blackbeard the Dry-Cleaner

See the comic at Comics.com. Soundtrack: Do What You Like